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WASHINGTON — California and other states can enact tougher locomotive emissions standards than those imposed by the federal government, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said this week. The policy change, which goes into effect on Dec. 8, means the California Air Resources Board’s controversial locomotive emissions regulations will not run afoul of federal preemption of […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National will launch new intermodal service from the Port of Gulfport, Miss., under a new agreement with the state’s port authority. Test moves from the Gulf Coast port — which specializes in refrigerated cargo such as Dole and Chiquita bananas and other produce — will begin in the next few weeks, CN […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said Thursday that it will launch a major track repair program with the goal of eliminating all speed restrictions on its transit lines by the end of 2024, a program that will require incremental, multi-day shutdowns of the Red, Orange, Green, and Blue lines over the next 14 […]
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Transportation presented a tentative operating schedule for an extension of Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Newton, Kan. — where it would connect with the Southwest Chief — as part of an online informational meeting Wednesday to seek public comment. The 20-minute presentation included in the meeting […]
CLEVELAND —Newburgh & South Shore Railroad, an OmniTRAX short line serving the Cleveland area, has introduced its first battery-electric locomotive, the first electric locomotive operated by an Ohio short line. The locomotive, an AMPS Traction G9, is intended to reduce fuel consumption by half and NOx emission and particulate matter by 77%. The locomotive was […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway and Navajo Transitional Energy Co. have reached a settlement that will end the coal miner’s common carrier complaint against the railroad. The companies today asked the Surface Transportation Board to suspend the case until Jan. 8, 2024, which is when BNSF and NTEC expect to conclude their settlement process. In an […]
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday that he will issue a decree requiring the nation’s freight rail operators to offer passenger service or to allow government-operated passenger trains to run on their routes. Reuters reports Lopez Obrador made the announcement at a Wednesday press conference. A clause in the concession […]
CINCINNATI — In close balloting, Cincinnati voters have approved the sale of the city-owned Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern for $1.62 billion. With 100% of precincts reporting, Issue 22 passed by a 51.6% to 48.4% margin — 43,173 votes to 40,599. City officials, led by Mayor Aftab Pureval, had favored the sale, which will […]
Intermodal analyst Larry Gross is fond of pointing out that rather than creating a truly competitive intermodal service that can attract freight from the highway, the Class I railroads have for too long relied on outside forces like truck driver shortages or high diesel fuel prices to push freight their way. The strategy — or […]
MANASSAS, Va. — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen are voting on a tentative contract for engineers who operate trains for Virginia Railway Express through contract operator Keolis Rail Service Virginia. The tentative five-year agreement, covering 11 engineers, is retroactive to 2021 and would include pay increase compounded at 22.2% over the […]
J.B. Hunt and BNSF Railway today launched faster, more reliable premium domestic intermodal service that they say will eventually convert millions of truckloads to rail. The Quantum service — which revives a name that Santa Fe and J.B. Hunt used when they began their TOFC alliance in 1989 — shaves as much as a day […]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Ballard Power Systems, which has provided the fuel cell engines for CPKC’s first hydrogen-powered locomotives, announced it has received an order for another 12 engines totaling 2.4 megawatts of power. The dozen 200-kilowatt engines, to be delivered this year, will support CPKC development of additional hydrogen fuel-cell locomotives for switching and […]
